Secrets Revealed
by EvilRegal98
Summary: Sixteen year old Charlotte Mills gets curious about her father. Sequel to I'll Stand By You( though it's not necessary to read that one first, it is recommended. )


**Authors note:** Alright, so since some people asked for a sequel to I'll Stand By You, here it is ;) **Trigger Warning: Talk about rape!**

**...**

If there is one thing that sixteen year old Charlotte Mills knows, it's that she is never supposed to ask about who her father is. It was a lesson learned ever since she had been a little girl. If she so much as mentioned the word 'dad' her mother always got a sad and haunting look on her face. Just like when she asks grandma Cora or David.

Charlotte was not dumb, no she was - what her teachers called - exceptionally bright for her age, so she could guess that whatever the deal with her father was, it brought her mother a lot of pain to talk about it. That's because Charlotte never asked. Well, except for those few times when she was sad or confused. Or angry. Yes, she had definitely inherited the Mills' temper.

She remember the first time so well. The whole class got an assignment to make a family tree, and she hadn't wanted to fill in a question mark on the little dots under 'father' so she'd asked.

She would never forget the painful look on her mother's and grandmother's face. It was still imprinted on her mind.

...

_Regina leaned against the black hood of her Mercedes. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she looked around on the playground. It was filled with parents who were there to pick up their child. She remembered when it had been Henry that she needed to pick up. But the boy was fourteen now and too busy with girls. So instead of her teenage son, who didn't really need her anymore - it didn't hurt as much because he didn't need Emma either - she was here to pick up her almost four year old daughter._

_Oh where had the time gone. Charlotte birthday was already next month. A smile turned Regina's lips up when she thought about her little girl. The small brunette was like a carbon copy of herself. Everyone said so, her mother the most. She had the same dark brown ringlets as Regina had had on that age and her brown eyes were as piercing as that of her mother, and grandmother. _

_The bell rang through the playground and all the parents head immediately snapped towards the double doors that separated them from their children. _

_Regina gracefully pushed herself from her car and slowly made her way towards the hords of parents and children. She scanned the small heads that were pushing their way out of the door, wanting to get away from the school as fast as possible. _

_It wasn't hard to see which head belonged to her daughter. Her dark curly hair was slighty held back by soft purple bows that the little girl insisted in wearing every day. And who was Regina to object to that? _

_"Mommy!" The girl screamed, the moments her dark haired mother got into view. _

_Regina smiled as she moved her handbag up to her shoulder and croutched down on her heels to welcome her daughter with open arms. "Hello, sweetheart." She said while she kissed the little girl's forehead, leaving a dark red lipstick stain on the skin. _

_Regina licked the pad of her thumb when she saw the stain and tried to wipe it away. _

_"Iew, mommy!" Charlotte yelled. She softly pushed her mother away and started to wipe furiously to rid herself of her mother's saliva. _

_Regina let out a chuckle at the girl's crinkled nose in the same fashion she herself always did. Charlotte seemed to be satisfied that she got rid of the wetness on her forehead and let her arms hang next to her body again. Regina knew her daughter didn't like it when she tried to clean her face, and she knew Regina herself had always thought it was disgusting too whenever her mother tried to clean her with saliva. She remembered how she had told herself that she would never subject her children to that. But she guessed it was instinctual. _

_Her legs started to hurt from being in the same position for too long so Regina stood straight again. She grabbed her daughter's hand and together they walked to the car. All the while, Charlotte was happily chatting about her very active school day. _

_..._

_"And then we got five minutes extra play time from miss Blanchard!" Charlotte said while she followed her mother into the kitchen. _

_Regina smiled as if five minutes extra play time were the best gift you could ever give somebody. _

_"Hello, Regina." Cora said while she smiled from behind the cooking island. _

_"Grandma!" Charlotte cheered and she ran towards the old woman. _

_Cora smiled at the child and bent down to give her a tight hug. "Hello there, little princess." _

_Regina smiled at the love she saw in her mother's eyes. Even though it hurt her a little bit that she had never known her mother like this loving woman, she was glad that her daughter did. Regina was glad that her mother was here, she was too tired to handle a hyper three year old all on her own. The old woman had decided to buy her own house at the end of the street, because she wanted to be close to her daughter and her granddaughter, she'd said. Regina still smiled at the maternal love the woman had given her and her daughter. _

_"Mommy, miss Blanchard has also given us an assignment!" _

_Regina was snapped out of her thoughts by the giggle emanating from her daughter when Cora picket her up and placed her on the table. Regina wanted to say something about the fact that sitting on the table wasn't allowed, but Charlotte's smile was priceless._

_"And what assignment was that, Charlotte?" Regina asked while she placed her elbows and the table and rested her head in her hands. _

_"A family tree!" The small girl said with a grin, not noticing how the atmosphere in the kitchen had immediatly changed. Regina felt he color leave her cheeks and she felt the cold sweat run down her back. Cora abandoned cutting the fruit and quickly walked over to her daughter so she could place a supportive hand on the almost hyperventilating mother. _

_"But I have to fill in the names." The girl continued, still completely oblivious. "Grandmother is Cora. And grandfather is Henry. And brother is also Henry! And mommy is Regina. But daddy is question mark." The girl said innocently._

_Regina straightened up slowly and placed her hands on her hips. Her grip was so strong that she was certain it would leave hand shaped bruises. But that was the least of her worry in this moment. _

_"Why don't I have a daddy, mommy? Everybody has one, that's what Emily said." Charlotte asked as she looked up at her mother with her big brown eyes._

_Tears were burning in her eyes and Regina had great trouble to make sure the traitorous liquid didn't start leeking down her cheeks. She didn't know how to answer that oh so innocent question. She couldn't very well tell her daughter that her father was a vicious rapist, or that Regina had actually hated the child growing inside of her for the first two months of little Charlotte's existence._

_"That's right, darling. Everyone has a daddy, but some daddy's aren't good at being one. Like your daddy. And he left so that you could have a happy life with your mommy, and me and David and Emma and Henry. Do you understand little princess?" _

_Cora had been the one to explain it. She noticed how her daughter had practically retreated in herself and she knew that Regina wouldn't been able to give Charlotte the answer she wanted. It hurt Cora immensely that even after more than three years, the pain was still so raw. Regina still had nightmares sometimes and she hadn't had any real contact - well, except for David - with man ever since. _

_But even with all that pain and all that darkness, there were still more good days than bad and Cora was so grateful for that. There were days like Charlotte's birthday that could even help Regina forget about who the little girl's father really was. But there were also day when Regina was practically a shell like every year on April twenty eighth, the day Charlotte was conceived. Cora always called Regina in sick and took Charlotte for a sleepover. She didn't want the girl to witness her mother so... empty. _

_Charlotte furrowed her eyebrows in thought, but then nodded. "Yes grandma, I understand." To be honest, Charlotte didn't understand it in the slightest. Why would her daddy leave her? But she also noticed how her mommy was suddenly looking very sick._

_"Good." Cora said with a smile and she gently rubbed her daughter's lower back. _

_"I'm sorry mommy." Charlotte said softly as she reached forward towards Regina, who was still standing rigid next to her mother. _

_The glassy look Regina had immediatly changed when she saw her daughter reach our to her. She slowly walked over towards the small girl and picked her up from the table, letting the child rest comfortably on her hip. Charlotte wrapped her tiny arms around her mother's neck and buried her head in the crook Regina's neck. The smell was comforting and Charlotte inhaled deeply. _

_"It's okay Charlotte." Regina said, her voice hoarse from the tears that threatened to fall. She rubbed comforting circles on the girl's back and quickly wiped the lonely tear away from her cheek. _

...

After that talk she had eventually filled in nothing at the dotted line under 'father'. And when she got her mark back from miss Blanchard - or Snow White - the A was accompanied with a sad look from the teacher.

The toe of her boot connected with another small rock and she kicked it away. The hard stone connected with a trashcan, causing a clinking noise that echoed throughout the empty street.

"Hey, Charlie."

A familiar voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she looked up to see David jogging towards her. "Hey, David." She smiled at the nickname. David had called her that ever since she could remember. He and her mother were very close friends. Which was weird because her mother was the former Evil Queen and he's Prince Charming.

"How's life?" He asked while he took some gulps of air to slow down his racing heart.

She hooked one thumb in the pocket of her black coat. "Ah, you know. Normal."

He smiled and stretched the muscles of his legs. "Charlie, I've known you for your whole life -hell, I've delivered you. So I know when something's bothering you. You can tell me."

Charlotte looked down at her shoes. She should've known David would see right through her, the man was like a father to her. He'd even asked to be there on the night she went to her first school dance so that he could have a chat with Joshua - he had been her date - like every father did, at least that's what David had said. Her mother had asked him if he was out of his mind and then declined his offer. But David had still showed up, and threatened poor Joshua. The boy had been nervous the whole evening.

"Will you promise not to tell mom?" She asked carefully. Charlotte knew she shouldn't be asking this of David. He and her mom were such close friends, it was unfair to ask him to lie to her. But she had to ask someone, it had been plaguing her for quite a while now.

"Oh oh, that usually doesn't mean something good." He said as he dropped his left foot back down on the pavement. Using the back of his right hand, he wiped the droplets of swear from his forehead. He eyed Charlotte's expression and knew the girl was deadly serious, somewhere in the back of his mind he found it cute that Charlotte's determined look was an exact replica of that of her mother's. "I can't promise you that, Charlotte. You know I can't lie to your mom and if there's something I know about your mother, it's that she's very preceptive."

Charlotte sighed and buried her head in her hands for a second. She breathed in deeply, in and out. "I know, it's just... it's something that has been plaguing my mind for a while now, well actually my whole life." She lowered her hands and looked David in his green eyes. "And I can't ask mom or grandma, because if I do, they will get upset and I don't want that." She shook her head and willed the tears that were gathering in her eyes to dry up. She couldn't start crying now, she was almost an adult for god's sake.

"So I just need to ask." She took a deep breath to steady her voice. "Who's my father, and why can't my mother, or grandmother talk about him." There she'd said it, the words were finally out in the open.

Though after a minute of silence she'd wished she'd never let them leave her lips. David was looking at her with a haunted look, there was a sadness there too. The same sadness her mother had.

"Will you tell me, please?" She begged.

"Charlotte." He started with a sigh.

"No." She interrupted him. Because she knew what was going to happen next. He was going to come up with some lame excuse and told her to forget about it. "It seems like everyone knows who my father is, except me! And I'm old enough to know now!"

"Charlie." David took a hold of her shoulders and forced her to look at him. "I know that you're a smart, strong and beautiful young woman." He said with a smile. "But trust me when I tell you, it doesn't matter if you're five or sixteen, hell even forty. You'll never be ready to hear about something like this."

"But-" She started, but was quickly interrupted again.

"No, don't. And if you really can't let it go, you shouldn't ask just anyone. You should ask your mom, it's her place to tell you."

Charlotte sighed in defeat and nodded. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"It's fine, I understand you're curious." He said with a soft smile and he rubbed her shoulders in a comforting way. "But I really need to get back to my run, if I'm not home at four, Snow will have my head."

She chuckled softly, appreciating the small joke he made to lighten the mood. She guessed that if she really wanted to know, her mother was the only way she could get her answers.

She waved a goodbye to David, who was already jogging again and resumed the walk home.

...

"Hey, mom." Charlotte said as she hung up her coat and made her way in the kitchen. She dropped her bag on one of the chairs and smiled at her mother. Regina was busy cutting the vegetables in evenly sized cubes. She looked up and smiled at her daughter.

"How was school?" She asked as she put down the knife and walked over to take a seat next to her daughter. It was some sort of ritual they always did. Whenever Charlotte would come home from school, Regina would sit down next to her daughter and they would talk about their day. Sometimes grandma would join them, sometimes she wouldn't.

"Ahh, you know. Boring like always." She said with a shrug and then reached froward to grab an apple from the fruit bowl that stood on the middle of the wooden dining table. She took a bite and then licked the juice from her lips. "Mr Poppy still doesn't have our grades."

Regina lifted her eyebrows. "Didn't you make that test like two weeks ago?"

"Yes. But he's slow. Anyway, is grandma going to join us for dinner tonight?" She asked, deciding to change the subject.

Regina nodded. "Yes, as a matter of fact, she will be here in a few minutes."

As if on cue the doorbell rang. Charlotte stood up and moved to the front door to let her grandmother in.

"Charlotte!" The old woman smiled as she wrapped her arms around her granddaughter in a tight hug. It was like Cora hadn't seen her in a few moths, but actually it was like yesterday. They were very close.

"Hey grandma." She said as she pulled out of the strong grip Cora had on her, needing to breath again. "Mom's in the kitchen."

"Okay, darling." Cora said and moved pass her to walk towards the kitchen were her daughter was.

"Hello, sweetheart." Cora said as she walked into the kitchen. Regina looked up from the vegetables she was cutting to greed her mother with a smile.

"Hello, mother."

Cora walked over to the cooking island and rested her elbows on the granite countertop. She carefully looked her daughter over and noticed the black circles under her brown eyes. Regina had tried to cover up the evidence of insomnia with some layers of concealer. But since Cora dealt with this every year, she knew the small signs. Like the way Regina's shoulders sagged a little bit, or ducked her eyed whenever someone tried to make eye contact.

Her eyes shifted to the calendar hanging on the white wall. April twenty seventh. _Oh Regina... _

"So." Regina started as she scraped her throat. "I was wondering if it was possible that you could pick up Charlotte tomorrow after school and maybe take her out shopping or something?" She asked it without looking up from her task.

Cora sighed. She understood that that day was always hard for Regina, but it's been sixteen years and maybe it was good for her to start forgetting about it. "Regina, you know that I would do that for you. But don't you think that you need to stop this. It's been sixteen years now and it may be hard to believe, but something good came out of all that. Your beautiful daughter Charlotte."

Regina sighed. "I know, and I'm happy that I have Charlotte. But it's just hard on days like tomorrow. I just feel so... empty." A small tear made its way down her cheek and Regina quickly wiped the traitorous liquid away. She was glad Charlotte was upstairs, doing homework. A sixteen year old girl was not supposed to see her mother like this.

Cora lifted one and and reached out to grasp her daughter's hand, stopping the younger brunette's movements. Regina looked up and she locked eyes with her mother. "I know that, darling." Cora started. "And it's okay for you to feel down on such a day, but you can't just ship your daughter over to me, because you don't want her to see you like this."

Regina searched her mother's eyes for any kind of judgement, but found none. Only sympathy and love and it warmed her heart. "You're right. I'm just..." Her voice died down and she looked down at her hands again.

Cora saw her daughter retreating and she put her index finger under the younger woman's chin and tilted her head so they met each other's eyes again. "You're what?"

Her mother's gaze was intense and Regina swallowed harshly. "Afraid. I just can't help but think that one day, Charlotte is going to ask the question again. And I'm afraid to answer it."

Cora didn't have to think hard on what 'that' question was. It was a question Charlotte had only asked once before. It was about who Charlotte's father was. Cora understood Regina's fear, knowing the younger woman would probably never be ready for telling her daughter how she was conceived.

"Oh, sweetheart." Cora said softly as she pulled the now crying woman in her arms. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there. But for now, we will take Charlotte out to go shopping tomorrow."

They stood there for a few minutes before Regina pulled back out off the embrace and wiped the tear tracks from her cheeks. "You're right."

...

"Regina?" Archie asked groggily as he wiped the sleep from his tired eyes and placed his glasses back on his nose. He leaned heavier on the doorframe and looked at the clock. 11:34 pm. "What are you doing here this late?"

Regina clapped her glove covered hands together and shifted awkwardly from one foot to another. "I'm sorry to barge in on you at this hour, doctor. But I was wondering if we could talk for a moment."

Archie stopped himself from lifting his eyebrows in surprise. Over the last few years he'd made constant attempts to get Regina to talk to him, but other then during Regina's pregnancy, the woman had ignored and refused him. So to say the least, Archie Hopper was surprised to find the woman, standing in his doorway at, now, 11:35, asking for a talk.

There was only one way to respond to that. "Of course."

Regina walked passed him and stepped inside of the small office. It looked old and smelled like leather. She walked over to the old leather couch that explained the scent and gracefully sat down.

"So." Archie started as he dropped himself down in his usual chair, pulling his robe a little more closed, now feeling very self conscious under the mayor's dark eyes. "What is bothering you, Regina?"

A perfectly manicured eyebrow rose in response. "Am I that obvious, doctor?"

The man gave a small smile. "No, I just thought it have to be important if you would come to me in the middle of the night."

Regina sat back and crossed her long legs, she smoothed out the imaginary rinkles and pursed her lips in thought. "You're right. Something is bothering me." She dropped her leg again and then crossed them again, a sign she was nervous about something. "As you may be aware of, tomorrow is a very painful day for me." The words came out in a soft whisper and Archie had to strain to hear them.

There fell a moment of silence in the office and it gave Archie some time to think about what exactly was so special about tomorrow. But he came up empty. Regina seemed to notice his struggle and said. "Tomorrow is the day that it's exactly seventeen years ago that I conceived me daughter."

Archie swallowed. Of course, he should've known seeing how many times they had talked about the rape. "That must be very painful for you."

Regina nodded. "Yes, it is. But that's not really the reason why I'm here."

"Oh." He responded and the immediatly felt stupid for it. What kind of response was 'oh'?!

"No, the real reason why I'm here is because I'm sure that there will come a day when Charlotte starts asking questions about who her father is." There was raw pain clearly visible in Regina's dark eyes.

"And you're afraid about how to answer that question?"

Regina lifted her eyebrows in surprise at his correct assumption. Archie actually felt some small tinge of pride. Yes, he may have been just a simple cricket back in the Enchanted Forest. But for the last almost thirty years, he had actually believed that he went to school for this kind of thing, that he really had a PhD.

"Yes, I am. I don't want her to think that I don't love her because of what her father did to me." She croaked as emotion came over her voice. "But then I would be lying to her, because I did hate the child growing inside of me for the first two months. I actually resented her." This time a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Regina, a pregnancy originating from rape is a very traumatic experience for a woman. No one can hold it against you that you resented the child, at first. You were traumatized, Regina. But look at your beautiful daughter. You love and you know that. I know that, Cora knows that, the whole town knows that but more importantly, Charlotte knows that. Because if you hadn't loved her, Regina. Even in those first two months when you resented her, you still loved her. Otherwise you wouldn't have gone through with the pregnancy."

The last sentence echoed in the room and Regina quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks. She uncrossed her legs again and stood up. "I'm sorry to have bothered you at this time, doctor Hopper."

Archie followed her to the door and opened it for her. "Of course, Regina. Any time."

He was rewarded with a soft 'thank you' and the most genuine smile the mayor had ever given him.

...

Charlotte was actually surprised when her mother and grandmother had announced that they would pick her up from school and then the three of them would go shopping. Usually - though she didn't know why - she would spent the day with only her grandmother. She'd asked why once and her grandmother had just said that April twenty eighth was a special day for her mother. The five year old had innocently asked if it was a good or a bad special but grandma had never answered. After another five years, Charlotte had finally understood it was a bad special.

So when they said the _three_ of the would go shopping and that the three actually stood for her, grandma and mom, she was pleasantly surprised.

So here they were, walking down Main Street, two shopping bags in her hand. She was glad that her mother could join them, but she'd been very quiet the whole time, only saying something when she was being asked. And whenever her grandma thought she wasn't looking, she shot her mother a concerned look.

Something was up and Charlotte was determined to find out what it was.

...

"I'm glad you came with us today." Charlotte said as she sat down on the empy space next to her mother. Regina looked up from the book she was reading and took off the black reading glasses she was wearing. She pulled her daughter closer towards her and sat up against the headboard of her bed.

"Tell me what's bothering you, Charlotte."

"I... It's nothing." She didn't want to ruin this moments between them. Her mother's warm arms around her always made her feel safe and protected. Ever since she'd been a little girl, she always crawled into her mother's arms whenever she'd had a nightmare.

"Mommy, mommy, mommy!" The little five year old screamed as her small feet padded against the carpet. She burst inside of her mother's bedroom and saw that her mother was still awake, reading a grown up book.

Her mother's dark eyes snapped up and she reached her little arms up so that her mother could help her on the bed.

"What is it, my little Charlotte?" She asked softly as she put the book and her glasses in the nightstand next to her. The little girl immediatly curled into her the moment she was lifted onto the bed.

"I had a bad dream." She pouted as she buried her head in the crook of Regina's neck and inhaled the familiar scent.

"Oh, don't worry my little princess." Regina said tenderly as she brushed the dark locks out of her daughter's face. "Do you want to sleep with me, so I can protect you against the monsters?"

She felt the girl nod and Regina smiled as she shifted so that she could lift the covers over her slumbering daughter.

Her mother had been her rock, still was. And she hated seeing her sad.

"I just thought it was nice you joined grandma and me today."

Regina knew her daughter was hiding something. But it was late and she didn't want to ruin the pleasant atmosphere that was surrounding her. "Of course, sweetheart. Do you want to sleep here tonight?" Her voice was hopeful and Regina cursed herself for it. She just wanted her daughter here tonight, maybe she could keep the nightmares at bay.

"Sure, mom." Charlotte said as she leaned over her mother so she could snap the light out.

...

"Regina I'm so glad I ran into you."

Regina raised her eyebrows. "David, you didn't 'ran into me'. You came to my office."

David chuckled and massaged the back of his neck with his left hand. "Technicalities. I just needed to speak with you about something."

He took a seat on one of the designer chairs, facing Regina's desk - a new desk, Regina had thrown out the old one immediatly when she returned to the office after her maternity leave.

"That sounds serious."

David sighed and leaned forward. "Yes, it is." He scraped his throat before he began. "Charlotte asked me about who her father is." The words were out, he couldn't take them back anymore.

Regina immediatly went pale. "And what did you tell her?"

He put his hands up in a calming manner. "I told her to go to you. It's your place to tell Regina, I wouldn't take that from you."

She didn't really know what to say in response to that so she opted for a soft 'thank you'. It sounded weak and Regina cursed herself for it.

"Of course." He smiled. "But I think that Charlotte will not stop asking about it, until she knows."

Regina groaned and placed her elbows on her desk. She rested her head in her hands and pressed the palms into her eyes to stop the prickling sensation of upcoming tears. "You're right. I need to tell her."

David bent forward and gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze.

"Even after all this time, that bastard can still hurt me." She sobbed as she suddenly couldn't stop the tears anymore.

He sighed in defeat and walked around the desk to pull the crying woman into his arms. "I'm sorry, Regina. I'm so, so sorry."

...

"Charlotte could you sit down, darling?" Regina asked carefully when she saw her daughter enter the kitchen. Charlotte eyed her curiously as she sat down on one of the chairs. Her mother soon followed and took the seat facing her.

There was a moment of silence before Regina started. "I know that you've been wondering about." Regina swallowed before continuing, calming her nerves. "Your father."

Charlotte's eyes shot up at the mention of her father. "How do you know?" She asked softly.

"That doesn't matter. The more important thing is why you didn't just ask me."

She locked eyes with her mother. "Because I know that whenever I ask about... _him_, you get all sad and I don't want to hurt you."

A watery smile appeared on Regina's face. She reache forward to grasp both of her daughter's hands and gave them a soft squeeze. "Oh, my sweet baby girl. Please, remember that I have always loved you, and that I will always love you."

"Mom." Charlotte said softly as she moved her hands and placed them on her lap. "You're scaring me. What could be so bad?"

A small and humorless chuckle left Regina's lips. "You have no idea, sweetheart." She took another deep breath to calm herself. And then another.

"Your father's name is Jefferson." There was bitterness in her voice when she spoke the name aloud.

Charlotte noticed the way her mother spat out the name. She'd never heard her mother say someone's name with so much hate. Whoever the man was, her mother certainly had an undying hatred for him.

A shuddering breath left her mother's lips and it caused Charlotte's attention to snap back to the woman on the other side. Her mother, who was barely keeping it together.

"I don't know how to say this." Regina softly muttered, because really, how do you tell your daughter she was conceived during a violent rape?

"The circumstances under which you were conceived were not... consensual." It was the best Regina could do and the moment the words left her lips, her eyes snapped up to gauge her daughter's reaction.

Charlotte's normally rosy cheeks turned a ghostly pale, her face lost all emotion and turned to stone.

After there minutes of dead silence, Regina couldn't take it anymore. "But that doesn't mean that I don't love you, darling." She tried to stroked her daughter's cheek but Charlotte roughly pulled away.

"I, uhm, I need to go." Her mind couldn't function properly anymore and she saw the room spinning. "I need to go for a walk."

She stood up abruptly and almost sprinted out of the room, leaving behind her shell shocked mother.

From the moment Regina decided to tell her daughter about him, she had been wrecked with nerves. She had concocted up any scenario that could possible follow the revelation. Crying, anger, more crying. But not this. The stony mask that covert Charlotte's face was certainly not something Regina had been expecting, or the storming out for that matter.

But she was gone. Charlotte was gone. And now the tears fell freely.

...

The bell rang and Cora immediatly got off the couch and ran to the door. Her daughter had called a few hours ago in panic. Apparently she had told Charlotte who her father was and the girl had stormed out.

The moment she opened the door and saw the tear stained face of her granddaughter, her heart broke. She pulled the sobbing girl into her arms, not caring that she was drenched because of the rain that had started to fall form the sky about an hour ago.

"Oh, Charlotte. Everything will be okay, darling." She said softly as she kissed her forehead in a comforting way. "Let's get you warm." Cora shut the door behind her and she walked Charlotte to the living room. The young girl immediately dropped down in front off the fireplace.

There was a short silence, only filled with the shuddering breaths coming from the drenched girl. Cora placed a cup of tea on the table and sat down on the couch.

"Why did you run, Charlotte?"

The girl sniffled and looked up at her grandmother with big brown eyes that reminded the old woman so much of her daughter's.

"I don't want to hurt her anymore." The words were soft and muffled by the blanket that was wrapped around her small and shivering body. So soft that Cora had to lean forwards to catch them.

"Why do you think you're hurting her?" She asked though Cora already knew the answer. She just needed to hear it from her granddaughter.

"I'm conceived during a rape!" Charlotte's voice rose and there was raw anger in it. "How can mom love me?! After what my father did to her?!" Tears were cascading down her cheeks, but the girl didn't even see to notice. "She can't love me!"

"Oh, but that's where you're wrong, Charlotte." Cora replied calmly. She got to her knees in front of the girl and wrapped her arms around her. "Your mother loves you very, very much."

"How can you know that?" It came out in childish voice.

"Think about it. If your mother didn't love you, why would she have gone through with the pregnancy?"

Charlotte was silent after that. "I will call your mother. She's been very worried about you, darling."

Not even five minutes later, Regina was on her knees in front of her daughter, holding her small crying form.

"How could you ever think I didn't love you, sweetheart?" Regina asked as she placed a kiss on top of her daughter's hair.

"But, I'm the result of something horrible that happened to you."

"Do you know how I got through that traumatic experience?" Regina asked softly. She felt a soft shake of the girl's head and continued. "You. You were my light in the darkness, darling."

At this the girl looked up, her eyes red and swollen from all the crying. Her mother didn't look any better, her eyes were blood shot and red. "I'm sorry mommy."

"Don't be. It's not your fault."

And it wasn't. It wasn't her daughter's fault who her father was. She couldn't control what happened.

"I love you, baby girl." Regina said softly as she kissed the crown of Charlotte's head again.

"I love you too, mommy."

~FIN~


End file.
